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Agenda Item
28 (CONTINUED FROM JUNE 24, 2020) - Request Authorization to Enter Into a Contract with Crisis Response Network, Inc. for a Web-Based Emergency Shelter Availability Portal Due to COVID-19 Pandemic (Ordinance S-46798)
I strongly OPPOSE this measure. Police regularly show that they are more likely to harm the homeless. I see no benefit to involving violent men and women with guns (the police) when interacting with a population whose needs are beds and food, needs that this measure will not help with.
I strongly oppose this measure. Instead of funding and empowering more harrassment from police (and the resulting tickets and arrests unsheltered people can't afford and that make it that much harder to obtain employment and housing), this money needs to go to the professionals who are actually trained to support our unsheltered community members. Vote to increase the number of shelter beds immediately. HSC has the capacity - why are you blocking them?
Police lack training and sympathy to handle situations with unsheltered folks. These funds could be spread throughout the community to provide shelter beds and social workers
The police are not properly trained nor equipped to assist houseless humans with possibly mental health issues, they need kind, non militarized professionals to assist them. We don't need to invest $200,000 in creating a useless system just to tell us what we know, there are not enough shelter beds available to the thousands of houseless residents in PHX. We need to be redirecting funds to social services that are better equipped to assist houseless humans rather than arresting and citing them.
Police are not equipped to help our unsheltered- they lack the training and expertise are likely to be hostile towards the homeless people in our communities. This money could be far better spent funding social workers and providing shelter beds.
I oppose this measure. This lends itself to needles harassment of a vulnerable population. Additionally, the very proposition shows a mean streak in our leadership that we must replace with compassion and proactive policy.
I oppose this measure. A web portal like this should have NO PD access. Phx PD record speaks for itself and clearly shows more police interaction leads to more violence. PD should not be the responders attending to our homeless population. We need care workers responding to calls for homelessness instead. Additionally, this funding would be better used creating more shelter space instead of a portal, there are many free solutions to identify shelters w/ beds available. What we need is MORE beds.
I oppose this measure. Police officers do more harm than good for the homeless community. The $200,000 should instead be used for something that will benefit the homeless community, such as, shelter beds.
Interesting how there always seem to be enough money for surveillance technology, yet you still fail to even provide enough beds for those who are unsheltered. Fix that issue, first and foremost. Second, the information on the shelter bed availability should be used by social workers or community health workers, not the police.
I strongly oppose the idea of police being the responders to instances of homelessness, and I oppose this use of $200,000. It would clearly be more efficient, safe, and ethical to have professionals trained in public and mental health be the first responders, (not those trained to use weapons) and for the $200,000 to go directly to providing shelter bed, which are obviously needed.
I oppose this measure. We have already observed how police officers approach the homeless community: with hostility and aggression. Mental health and public health providers are vastly more qualified to handle these matters so why aren't we utilizing them? Also, this $200,000 measure does absolutely nothing to solve the root issue of inadequate shelter beds. Fund shelter beds and stop criminalizing the homeless community.
I strongly oppose this proposal. Police are not able to be held accountable to safely respond to unhoused folk. Provide housing for the homeless, instead of letting the police surveil and harass them. Countless examples of police brutality toward houseless folks proves that police should not be the first responders to the unsheltered crisis.
police should not be the first responders to our unsheltered community. they will not respond adequately and most likely escalate and put those vulnerable at risk at even more danger.
The Phoenix PD should not be involved in this contract. Phoenix PD has criminalized and traumatized the homeless population enough. Police are not social workers and this contract gives them more power to systemically discriminate against its most vulnerable constituents. Housing and other resources should be handled by qualified crisis teams and social workers. I oppose this contract and urge the council to deny one of the nation’s most violent PDs the power to terrorize this community.
As a licensed mental health provider, there has been no instance in my career that a police officer has ever de-escalated a situation or used information provided to assist rather than to harm or hold against. PPD will use the system as an excuse to ignore the 9th circuit court ruling, leading to further criminalization of people without places, and as a methodology of further separating people from services, people, and belongings. We need a portal and beds, not another avenue of police abuse.
This a terrible and very dangerous idea. Police officers are not behavioral health professionals. Their job is to enforce laws and rules, period. This leads to a bully mentality when dealing with anyone who opposes the, as we have seen nationwide recently. Giving police even more power over a vulnerable population can only lead to abuse and unfortunate outcomes for people who need help, an open mind and common sense from those who are sworn “to protect and serve.” OPPOSED.
As they fall asleep in parking lots less than 1 mile from your Chambers, 100s of your most underserved citizens could tell you tonight what this grave misuse of funds would tell the police $200,000 later - there aren’t enough shelter beds. Under the guise of COVID aid, this proposed portal would effectively serve as a tool for further criminalizing homelessness, & as anyone who works to shelter folks could tell you, would be unhelpful at its most benign. Mayor, Council - please oppose 28.
While a web-based shelter availability portal sounds helpful, the fact that the Phoenix Police Department is the primary group accessing the portal proves it is nothing more than a method of terrorizing the unsheltered community in Phoenix. A vote for this contact allows the Police Department to further target unsheltered people. This contract is a non-solution and I strongly oppose it.
I oppose giving Phoenix police any more power. This measure would actively endanger those who are unsheltered in Phoenix as the Phoenix PD criminalizes homelessness. This would just be another tool for them to harass the unsheltered.
I strongly OPPOSE this measure. Police regularly show that they are more likely to harm the homeless. I see no benefit to involving violent men and women with guns (the police) when interacting with a population whose needs are beds and food, needs that this measure will not help with.
I want you to say NO to displacement, gentrification, and re-segregation by voting NO!
I strongly oppose this measure. Instead of funding and empowering more harrassment from police (and the resulting tickets and arrests unsheltered people can't afford and that make it that much harder to obtain employment and housing), this money needs to go to the professionals who are actually trained to support our unsheltered community members. Vote to increase the number of shelter beds immediately. HSC has the capacity - why are you blocking them?
Police lack training and sympathy to handle situations with unsheltered folks. These funds could be spread throughout the community to provide shelter beds and social workers
The police are not properly trained nor equipped to assist houseless humans with possibly mental health issues, they need kind, non militarized professionals to assist them. We don't need to invest $200,000 in creating a useless system just to tell us what we know, there are not enough shelter beds available to the thousands of houseless residents in PHX. We need to be redirecting funds to social services that are better equipped to assist houseless humans rather than arresting and citing them.
Police are not equipped to help our unsheltered- they lack the training and expertise are likely to be hostile towards the homeless people in our communities. This money could be far better spent funding social workers and providing shelter beds.
I oppose this measure. This lends itself to needles harassment of a vulnerable population. Additionally, the very proposition shows a mean streak in our leadership that we must replace with compassion and proactive policy.
I oppose this measure. A web portal like this should have NO PD access. Phx PD record speaks for itself and clearly shows more police interaction leads to more violence. PD should not be the responders attending to our homeless population. We need care workers responding to calls for homelessness instead. Additionally, this funding would be better used creating more shelter space instead of a portal, there are many free solutions to identify shelters w/ beds available. What we need is MORE beds.
I oppose this measure. Police officers do more harm than good for the homeless community. The $200,000 should instead be used for something that will benefit the homeless community, such as, shelter beds.
Interesting how there always seem to be enough money for surveillance technology, yet you still fail to even provide enough beds for those who are unsheltered. Fix that issue, first and foremost. Second, the information on the shelter bed availability should be used by social workers or community health workers, not the police.
I strongly oppose the idea of police being the responders to instances of homelessness, and I oppose this use of $200,000. It would clearly be more efficient, safe, and ethical to have professionals trained in public and mental health be the first responders, (not those trained to use weapons) and for the $200,000 to go directly to providing shelter bed, which are obviously needed.
I oppose this measure. We have already observed how police officers approach the homeless community: with hostility and aggression. Mental health and public health providers are vastly more qualified to handle these matters so why aren't we utilizing them? Also, this $200,000 measure does absolutely nothing to solve the root issue of inadequate shelter beds. Fund shelter beds and stop criminalizing the homeless community.
I strongly oppose this proposal. Police are not able to be held accountable to safely respond to unhoused folk. Provide housing for the homeless, instead of letting the police surveil and harass them. Countless examples of police brutality toward houseless folks proves that police should not be the first responders to the unsheltered crisis.
police should not be the first responders to our unsheltered community. they will not respond adequately and most likely escalate and put those vulnerable at risk at even more danger.
The Phoenix PD should not be involved in this contract. Phoenix PD has criminalized and traumatized the homeless population enough. Police are not social workers and this contract gives them more power to systemically discriminate against its most vulnerable constituents. Housing and other resources should be handled by qualified crisis teams and social workers. I oppose this contract and urge the council to deny one of the nation’s most violent PDs the power to terrorize this community.
As a licensed mental health provider, there has been no instance in my career that a police officer has ever de-escalated a situation or used information provided to assist rather than to harm or hold against. PPD will use the system as an excuse to ignore the 9th circuit court ruling, leading to further criminalization of people without places, and as a methodology of further separating people from services, people, and belongings. We need a portal and beds, not another avenue of police abuse.
This a terrible and very dangerous idea. Police officers are not behavioral health professionals. Their job is to enforce laws and rules, period. This leads to a bully mentality when dealing with anyone who opposes the, as we have seen nationwide recently. Giving police even more power over a vulnerable population can only lead to abuse and unfortunate outcomes for people who need help, an open mind and common sense from those who are sworn “to protect and serve.” OPPOSED.
As they fall asleep in parking lots less than 1 mile from your Chambers, 100s of your most underserved citizens could tell you tonight what this grave misuse of funds would tell the police $200,000 later - there aren’t enough shelter beds. Under the guise of COVID aid, this proposed portal would effectively serve as a tool for further criminalizing homelessness, & as anyone who works to shelter folks could tell you, would be unhelpful at its most benign. Mayor, Council - please oppose 28.
While a web-based shelter availability portal sounds helpful, the fact that the Phoenix Police Department is the primary group accessing the portal proves it is nothing more than a method of terrorizing the unsheltered community in Phoenix. A vote for this contact allows the Police Department to further target unsheltered people. This contract is a non-solution and I strongly oppose it.
I oppose giving Phoenix police any more power. This measure would actively endanger those who are unsheltered in Phoenix as the Phoenix PD criminalizes homelessness. This would just be another tool for them to harass the unsheltered.